“All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.” (Ecclesiastes 7:23-26)
There are things that we want that we do not get. “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing” (Proverbs 13:4) Solomon declared that he would be wise, but that which he wanted ended up being far from him. He began well, what hindered him?
In Proverbs 18:1 he said: “Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.” Solomon’s name is synonymous with wisdom, but oh how much more wisdom could he have had? He explains in Ecclesiastes what short-circuited his quest for deeper wisdom and understanding: his love of many strange women.
So many men who could have grown and gone so far in God, trade it all away for the same lures today. Jesus came to deliver us and keep us from such snares. He would have us live joyfully with one woman, even the wife of our youth. He would deliver every man from the idolatry and enslavement of pornography which throws us into a world of lusting after many strange women.
Women are not the problem. Sin is the problem. Let Jesus rescue you from every snare that would keep you from continually growing in His knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. You must make up your mind: will you sell your birthright to satisfy a fleeting appetite? Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.